Marra will serve as a member of TriMet's executive team and will be responsible for directing the maintenance of its multi-modal fleet, including buses and MAX light rail.

"TriMet has worked to augment our overall maintenance efforts to increase the reliability of the service we provide to thousands of riders each day," said TriMet's Interim Deputy General Manager Bob Nelson. "Sam brings extensive knowledge and years of practical experience to lead our efforts in maintaining and making additional investments to our aging system."

In this position, Marra will help lead the agency in its ongoing investments in MAX maintenance and infrastructure to improve safety, reliability and on-time performance. Marra will step in to oversee upcoming State of Good Repair and agency improvements, including more than $15 million in rail maintenance improvement projects in Fiscal Year 2015.

Marra joins TriMet with more than 30 years of expertise in transit maintenance and operations. Prior to coming to TriMet, Marra was a project manager and fleet maintenance consultant for Jacobs Engineering. During his time at AC Transit in Oakland, Calif., Marra managed their fleet of roughly 800 buses and support vehicles, as well as multiple repair and operational facilities. Additionally, he served as director of maintenance at Veolia Transportation in Las Vegas, Nev., and Phoenix, Ariz., and for Lane Transit in Eugene, Ore.